Help stupid duckling

[peachie]

i will start at the begining i had a stupid pekin duck that was sitting on eggs slowly one by one the exploded under her when the mucoveys started sitting i put the last 4 under them one exploded one died in the egg one hatched but i found it half out of the egg on the ground dead out side of the nest the last egg i found cold on the ground with a big crack and chip missing
i had a look and the wow the baby was still alive i put it in the incubator with the chicken egg s it was having probs but got out the yoke sac had gorn in but the belly was really destended when i got home this afternoon the yoke was back out i cant understand why that happened but then it bite the yoke and its sepping out its still alive what chance dose it have im so upset because we started with 30 eggs and this is the last one help please im in australia so it really warm

 

[satay]

Your exploding eggs tend to happen when they are infertile. As to your one that hatched I have never had this happen to any of my ducks but I would suggest you send a pm to member duckyfromoz. She is very knowledgable about ducks and maybe of better help to you.

 

[duckyfromoz]

Poor litle duckie...They can survive without absorbing the entire yolk but infection is the biggest issue you will have with that little one. A few months ago I had a duckling hatching and it ruptured the yolk sac with its foot trying to turn in the egg. That little one did survive and is now almost completely grown. I hope things go the same way for your little one even though the situation does sound a lot worse. Keeping it warm and comfortable is really all you can do for it at this stage.

 

[peachie]

thank u so so much its just so upsetting that these things happen its still alive but sleeping covered in yellow sticky gunk the warmest place i have at the moment is the incubator will that be ok

 

[duckyfromoz]

Thats probably the best place for it. So sorry that this has happened to you. Dont get too attached to the little one just yet...but dont give up hope for it either. It will be important for it to eat and drink as soon as it can enough to gain strength. Having not absorbed all the yolk it may need to eat sooner than a normally hatched duckling. Try to get it cleaned up a little if you can. It would be hard as you dont want to let it get to wet- but being covered in yolk could cause bacteria to grow- and thats the last thing you want for this little guy.

 

[katharinad]

I just like to add a few things. Get an electrolytes/vitamin/mineral supplement for poultry. Mix that with warm water and make it drink a sip, repeat every 3 hours until it starts eating and drinking by itself. For food. Grind up duck food, and make a mush out of it with the water mix and hope it starts eating that. Otherwise, leave it in the incubator where it is nice and warm until is starts standing and walking on its own. Good luck.

 

[peachie]

thank u so much everbody but the little guy died last night i think he had lots of probs by midnight i expect all of the yoke sac had comeback out thank u so much for your help

 

[duckyfromoz]

So sorry to hear that Peachie.... I hope next times things go better for you. In a way you were lucky to have the duck sit at all- as Pekins arent well regarded for their broodiness. Mine does sit- but she too looses most of her eggs and usually doesnt end up hatching anything.

 

[ejctm]

Sorry to hear about your eggs and ducklings. Although you have got an incubator, you could try using a broody chicken to hatch duck eggs in the future. I have had great success with this and it is much less trouble and anxiety than using a machine or an unreliable duck. Unless of course your duck was a good mother, she just knew there was something wrong with the eggs and rejected them. They often have a 6th sense about this, and kick unviable eggs out of the nest. If you can improve on fertility it might be worth giving her another try next year? What I mean is, it sounds as though the eggs were the problem not the duck?

Hope your next hatch goes much better.

 

[peachie]

thank u for all your kind words the eggs were under my pekin called angel (she has a angel wing ) we got her fromthe rspca ( animal rescue) i got her with another pekin they were both very skinny bummbles all over there feet they were going to put them down ( in the to hard basket i think ) we have had them for 6 mts she lays everyday the ducklings would have been muscovey x pekin she just had no idea i think she sat with out moving for days its warm hear and i would find her with maggots in her nest i had to clean the nest everyday its sad to see so many eggs go to waste i have 2 muscoveys and 2 other girls sitting at the moment so cross fingers they hatch
on a good note i had 4 very little sebright chicks hatch last night so very very happy they are very small